Ray James Earl

JAMES EARL RAY
INTERESTING IDENTIFICATION

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Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed on April 4, 1968 while
unsown k"lier mSte,g^odhis'^cSJ^y" buZ in

arUcles Thii if» d blue zlf>P , er bag containing clothing and personal
articles. These items were found m the vicinity of a rooming house acro«?«:

room a^the 0 ^ 1 " 0 H< J eL Investi G ation determined that subject had rented a

saar-’

_ . ... . _ Severa l latent prints of value were developed on the items

submitted. Two OI these latest prints, one on the rifle id one on ie
binoculars Mre found to have been made by the same finger and the nosition
of these prints, as well as the shape and slope of the ridges indicated the
prints were probably from the left thumb. B ' ated the

relative to th P ^n°H OUeh in Y5* tigation developed considerable information
. the-murderer. The rifle had been purchased in Birmingham by

SJh2 d « dUS ? USing the name Harve y Lowmeyer; the white Mustang^lieved
the getaway car was registered to an Eric Starvo Galt who had spent

rl •p^^ri^in'is'wri 5sat^-

to Pfobabl'^tMimg'fror^theTerMliumb^wa^tui*iflnar^loop'of ?2*ridg*e countsT*

, . .. .. The , latenl P ri »ts developed on the rifle, binoculars the man

mnrH^- *y M,ence bad 506,1 compared during the eleven days following the^
murder with approximately 400 suspects, had been searched thrS aU

mZt^iSiT fl " eerprinl me and compared -iSS—

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, Based on the premise that the latent fingerprint recovered

from the rifle, binoculars and map of Mexico was probably from the left
thumb and was an ulnar loop of 12 ridge counts, a review of the fingerprint
records of the 53, 000 fugitives on file was undertaken and it was found that
approximately 1900 of these fugitives had ulnar loops of 10 - 14 ridge counts
in the left thumb. Comparisons were started and on April 19, 1968, 15 days
after the crime, the latent fingerprints were identified with the fingerprints
of James Earl Ray, an escapee from the Missouri State Penitentiary where he
had been serving time for robbery.

The fingerprint identifications with James Earl Ray triggered an
intensive man hunt involving law enforcement officers and investigative
personnel, not only in the United States, but also Mexico, Canada, England,
and other countries.

The possibility that Ray himself might have been killed was
not overlooked and all unknown deceased fingerprint cards received by the
FBI were referred to the Latent Fingerprint Section for comparison. One
case of this type concerned a body found buried on the beach at Acapulco,
Mexico. Fingerprints taken by local authorities from this body were examined
in the Latent Fingerprint Section but, because of the condition of the body,
were of no value. An. examiner from the FBI's Latent Fingerprint Section
flew to Mexico and on examining the flesh of the fingers was able to determine
that the body was not that of James Earl Ray.

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Another phase of the investigation led to Canada and there,
following an exhaustive search of passport applications, it was determined
that Ray had obtained a passport under the name of Ramon George Sneyd and
S i had taken an airplane flight to London.

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Copies of the FBI Identification Order prepared following Ray's
identification by latent prints were immediately furnished to Scotland Yard and
on June 8, 1969, while attempting to board a flight for Brussels, Belgium,

Ray was arrested at London Airport.

Ray was subsequently ordered extradited to Memphis, Tennessee,
to stand trial for murder and to Missouri as an escaped felon. On March 10,
1969, Ray plead guilty to King's murder and was sentenced to 99 years in the
Tennessee State Penitentiary.

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